


Questionable Judgment

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 22:22:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13133436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: Goofy holiday-related shenanigans for goofy folks!





	Questionable Judgment

There was something definitely off about Shepard today, Kaidan realized.

Hardly anyone had seen or heard from her in hours. It was possible that she was conducting her own research, gathering intelligence, and making a plan to finally track down Saren and get this mess sorted for once and for all, but… something seemed off. It wasn’t like her to sequester herself away from the crew for so long. Perhaps she wasn’t feeling well or she just needed some time to deal with the pressure placed upon her. He thought maybe he should go and check on her. Just to be sure.

Lifting his head at his grand idea, the lieutenant swiftly remembered his place as his cranium suddenly collided with the top of the access panel where he’d been working. Physically, he cursed himself for not being more careful about his surroundings. Figuratively, it wasn’t really his place to fuss over the well-being of his commanding officer like a mother hen. She would let him know if she needed his assistance, after all. That’s how this all worked. As he rubbed the top of his head he reminded himself that he needed to put his attention into the work at hand and not Commander Shepard.

He sighed heavily and reached for a datapad at his side to continue troubleshooting the console. He was determined to find the malfunction even if it killed him. If he kept letting his mind drift the way it was at the moment, he was certainly at risk of the latter.

Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye when he reached down for the datapad, he realized someone was there. Ducking carefully this time, the lieutenant retreated from the opening of the access panel and sat back on his heels to see who it was and what they might need. When he got a proper look around, however, there was no one there. Kaidan’s brow furrowed for a moment, wondering if he was seeing things or if he’d hit his head harder than he’d thought.

He rose to stand to get the blood flowing through his joints again, if nothing else. It wasn’t until he rose to full standing height that he noticed something unusual. He cocked his head as he looked it over, unsure what to make of it.

\---------

“Uhh… Commander?”

Kaidan had finally found her in the crew mess leisurely scrolling through something on her datapad and sipping on a hot beverage. She looked just fine. Happy, even. A strange wash of relief fell over him, but he ignored it in favor of the more pertinent question. Shepard didn’t even bother to look up, but it appeared as though she was working to avoid glancing in his direction. “Lieutenant.”

“Do you know anything about this?”

Resting in his hands was a dark mass that her eyes barely flicked to in response. Her tone was cheerful as she prepared to take another sip from the mug in her hand. “Merry Christmas, Alenko.”

He was stunned for a moment. Kaidan hadn’t even realized that it was Christmas. He’d been so wrapped up in their ongoing struggle with Saren and affiliated problems that he’d forgotten. He simply stared down at the dark, fabric covered lump in his hands. “Oh.”

“Are you saying you don’t like it, Kaidan?” She smirked as she set aside her distractions and focused on him.

“N-no, ma’am. It’s not that.” Pulling a spherical object free of the dark lump, he held it up with one hand. “An orange?”

“An orange a day keeps the scurvy away,” she chuckled.

Well, there wasn’t technically any arguing that, but he didn’t think anyone onboard was at risk of developing scurvy. Dr. Chakwas wouldn’t hear of it, that was certain. Kaidan continued dismantling the package. “Thermal clips?”

“I don’t think anyone can have too many. You’ll be thankful in the middle of our next firefight,” Shepard calmly explained as she folded her hands on the table.

“Right,” the lieutenant responded with an understanding nod. If he were to be quite honest with himself, however, he was still very confused. “It’s possible that we’ve already had our last one, though.”

“Do you really believe that?” She laughed loudly at that one, and Kaidan couldn’t help but stare.

“No,” he felt his lips curl into a little smile. Turning his attention again to the final item to be freed of its cloth containment, curiosity got the better of him. This one was small and hard, and he couldn’t quite identify it by touch alone. “A scope?”

“For a pistol, yeah. I found it on a batarian. It made me wonder how a race with so many eyes could use it effectively, to be honest. You’re good with a pistol, so I thought you might like it.”

“Are you saying I need help aiming?” Kaidan’s tone was playful and his smile was widening.

“I’m saying you should be nice and pretend you like a gift haphazardly thrown together at the last minute by someone who almost forgot it was Christmas. I remembered late, but I thought the crew might like it. The humans, anyway. Wrex already thinks I’m crazy.” The smirk hadn’t left her face. He suspected that she was rather proud of her standing with the krogan.

“He wouldn’t be completely wrong…” Kaidan responded with a chuckle. He was pleasantly surprised at the gesture, in all honesty. She was under no obligation to do anything for her crew in light of an Earth holiday, and he’d managed to forget it himself. He’d never worked with anyone quite like her, and despite their often death-defying circumstances, he was very thankful to have the chance.

“Shut up. Just be thankful that you didn’t get what Joker got. I was going to give him a gun, but I wondered if he should really have one and if the kickback alone would cause some sort of awful injury.” Shepard drained the rest of her cup.

“Glad you caught yourself on that one,” Kaidan acknowledged. As much as he respected and appreciated the Normandy’s pilot, he probably didn’t need to mess with a gun. “And thank you. It was very… generous and unexpected.”

“I’d get something better if we weren’t in the middle of nowhere at the moment. It’s the thought that counts, right?” She smiled fully then, and Kaidan’s stomach fluttered a little. She was dangerous… in so very many ways.

He knew that he should have some clever response, but he was at a loss. The lieutenant merely nodded, mentally kicking himself for being so intimidated by this woman. Though, perhaps intimidated wasn’t the right word.

“Do me a favor, though?” the commander continued, her eyes sparkling in a way he’d never noticed before.

“Sure,” he answered before even thinking.

“Give me back my sock. My toes are getting cold.” Sure enough, as she stood to clean out her cup, he saw that she was barefoot. Kaidan realized that his commanding officer must have given out all of her military-issued socks to use as makeshift stockings to get this little endeavor accomplished. A bit weird, but very entertaining.

Just as he was going to respond, another voice broke into the conversation.

“Commander, is there a reason that I have a ‘President of the Commander Shepard Fanclub’ hat and an orange in a sock in the cockpit?” Joker sounded both confused and annoyed.

Kaidan laughed. Stepping up and resting the borrowed garment on the counter in front of his commanding officer, he sighed. “Merry Christmas, Shepard.”


End file.
